Alphabet Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 22,258 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 154% compared to the average volume of 8,772 call options.

Alphabet (GOOG) opened at 941.53 on Friday. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $727.54 and a 12 month high of $988.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $944.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $881.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $651.30 billion, a PE ratio of 31.82 and a beta of 0.94.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $5.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $26.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.61 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 13.66% and a net margin of 19.49%. The company’s revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post $30.74 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, VP James Grier Campbell sold 366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $902.72, for a total value of $330,395.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Shirley M. Tilghman sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.88, for a total transaction of $232,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,579 shares in the company, valued at $5,198,958.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,793 shares of company stock worth $43,987,234. 13.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Manhattan Co. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the second quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 111,175 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $101,028,000 after buying an additional 2,020 shares in the last quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.1% in the second quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC now owns 632 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Parsec Financial Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the second quarter. Parsec Financial Management Inc. now owns 7,089 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,442,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Markel Corp raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.6% in the second quarter. Markel Corp now owns 87,031 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $79,088,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.2% in the second quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 324,627 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $294,998,000 after buying an additional 10,088 shares in the last quarter. 34.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A number of research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Aegis reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,011.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Sunday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $1,005.00 to $880.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Barclays PLC reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Macquarie reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $975.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Finally, Cowen and Company reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,050.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, forty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,012.23.

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Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is a holding company. The Company’s businesses include Google Inc (Google) and its Internet products, such as Access, Calico, CapitalG, GV, Nest, Verily, Waymo and X. The Company’s segments include Google and Other Bets. The Google segment includes its Internet products, such as Search, Ads, Commerce, Maps, YouTube, Google Cloud, Android, Chrome and Google Play, as well as its hardware initiatives.